Category Archives: Folk speech

Aggie Joke

Nationality: Irish-American
Age: 76
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Dallas, Texas
Performance Date: March 15, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: n/a

“The Aggie Joke would be: How many Aggies does it take to change a lightbulb?

And the answer is: One, plus twelve to turn the ladder.

 

And this has an interesting context to me because polish jokes were the same, or very similar. For example, in the lexicon of south-side of Chicago, it would be how many “polacks” does it take to change a ladder. That was how people used to take before political correctness. I grew up in Chicago and of course and it was very ethnically divided and intense city like New York, or many other places in the country where a lot of immigrants came, and there were a lot of specific neighborhoods: the Polish neighborhood, the Lithuanian neighborhood, the Italian neighborhood, the Irish neighborhood, and they all had their own Church, and if you were Polish you didn’t walk across a couple of streets to go to the Italian Church and everybody kind of kept in their own little neighborhood or enclave. And back in the day, when I was growing up, of course political correctness had not reared its head, and so it was very common and not really thought much of for people to refer to people of other nationalities in a way that would today be considered horrible. You would never today call an Italian person a “dago”, you wouldn’t call an Irish person a “mick” you wouldn’t call a Jewish person a “kike,” but that was very common back then and nobody thought much of it, so that kind of language is no longer acceptable.”

 

Informant: the informant was born in Chicago, and attended high school and college there, graduating with a degree in English. After marrying and having one child, she moved to Dallas, Texas where she raised three children with her husband. She is of Irish descent, her father being from Ireland, and her mother was born in Wisconsin after her parents moved from Ireland, and her heritage and tradition are very important to her. She is a grandmother of five children.

 

Analysis:

To me, it seems like the cultural context of this joke is well-captured by the informant. Aggies, which is a name given to those who attend Texas A&M University, are usually considered to be their own group of people. If you attend A&M, as people refer to it in Texas, you are an Aggie and are now associated with that group of people. There has long been a rivalry between the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M, a rivalry that could have given way to Aggie jokes.

It is fitting that the Aggie joke fits that of the Polish joke that the informant, who is seventy-six years old, was used to. The joke was meant to be derogatory toward a specific group of people. Within the context of the informant’s age it was the Polish group, because this was a time in Chicago when ethnic groups kept to themselves and formed groups and lived in the same neighborhoods. Because it is meant to point-out how one group is slow-witted, this joke is especially belittling.

Therefore, in the state of Texas, it is no surprise that such a joke would be made with the Aggies as the subject. This is due to the rivalry with the University of Texas, because it has often been understood that it is harder to get into the University of Texas than Texas A&M, giving way to “dumb Aggie” jokes like this one. To me, this emphasizes how a joke pointed at one group can be changed to target another group, thereby continuing to be popular despite the changing times. Although it is no longer directed at Polish groups, this joke is still able to be told because it points at Aggies, something that is culturally accepted, especially in Texas. This demonstrates how a joke can keep its basic framework but vary in context and change to fit the modern culture.

“Keeping Them Honest”

Nationality: Primarily of Irish and Scottish descent, American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Dallas, TX
Performance Date: March 13, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: n/a

“So,“Keeping them honest” it was the phrase that basically meant cover your man in rugby. I heard it from the coach and my teammates, so it was basically used to refer to just blocking him, and provide cover for the other guys, and just to also make sure he doesn’t outrun you.”

Informant: The Informant is twenty years old, and attends the University of Texas at Austin. When he attended a Jesuit high school for boys only, he was a member of the rugby team. The school is a Jesuit Dallas, a Catholic college preparatory high-school.

Analysis:

This particular phrase caught my interest because it did not quite make sense to me. This can be attributed to its categorization of occupational folklore, because it is a phrase that would not easily be understood by anyone outside of the organization within the context of a rugby game. When I think of “keeping someone honest,” I think of trying to convince someone not to do something inherently wrong, so as not to compromise their character. I would never have imagined it to be used in the game of rugby, which is a very rough sport that does not appear to be sophisticated from an outsider’s perspective. A phrase that uses the term “honest” would most likely be associated with something that is of a sophisticated quality.

However, from the inside, rugby requires distinct amounts finesse, and it has many different strategic and complicated facets to it as well. Therefore, it requires strength of mind, body, and character to undertake the challenge of participating in this sport, as it is very strenuous. It also requires seamless teamwork, which would require each man to successfully perform his position so that the other team members can be successful as well. Because of this element of character that is involved in the game of rugby, the term “keeping them honest” makes sense within the context of the game. Although it is a very rough sport, they are determined to remain “honest.” It could also mean that in “keeping them honest,” the player is trying to block the player on the other team from doing something bad, or something he may regret, as one would convince a friend to remain honest.

This term is used not just on this high school team, but in referring to the defense enacted by many professional rugby teams as well. In an article published in 2014 in the newsletter “Planet Rugby,” the term is employed to describe how one rugby team won a game because they were able to hold their defense and not let the other team score. It is mentioned on another news website in New Zealand in describing how one team is able to hold the offense in order to win the games. This affirms the use of the term “keeping them honest” as a widely accepted term in rugby, although it is very hard to find in America, as the sport of rugby itself is not as widely acclaimed as football or baseball.

 

“Super Rugby Bonus Points System Set for Overhaul.” Newshub. NewshubNZ, 21 Jan. 2016.       Web. 20 Apr. 2016. <http://www.newshub.co.nz/sport/super-rugby-bonus-points-      system-set-for-overhaul–report-2016012112#axzz46PGBU1AU>.

 

“Highlanders Hold On to Defeat Rebels.” Planet Rugby. Planet Rugby, 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Apr.            2016. <http://www.planetrugby.com/news/highlanders-hold-on-to-defeat-rebels/>.

Never Put a Hat on a Bed (superstition)

Nationality: American
Age: 45
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Beverly Hills, CA
Performance Date: 4/24/16
Primary Language: English

Growing up my mom always told me never to put a hat on a bed because it brings bad luck. I am always very conscious if I’m wearing a hat never to place it on a bed, and I really notice it when I’m packing for a trip–I always put the hat far away from the bed. If I’m with friends and they place a hat on a bed I will always be aware of it but won’t say anything because I don’t want to impose, but it does make me nervous. My mother was passed down this superstition from her mother, who has plenty of superstitions from growing up in London.

INFORMANT: My mother, via her mother.

ANALYSIS: Research has provided several examples of cultures who find this superstition particularly strong, especially cowboys, boxers and actors/theatrical workers, three groups who are notorious for retaining superstitions. The origin of the prohibition of this behavior has been explained as “preventing the spread of head lice” as well as possibly originating in the 20s when gangsters hid guns under their hats on beds in hotel rooms, preventing them from being found if they were frisked, yet examples from Jamaican student essays from the 1890s show the superstition being used even back then, so it is likely to have developed far before the 1920s gangster heyday.

One for Sorrow, Two For Joy (nursery rhyme)

According to an old superstition, the number of magpies one encounters will determine whether one experiences bad or good luck. Like many folk songs and nursery rhymes, there is considerable variation regarding the lyrics, but here is a contemporary version:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird,
You must not miss.

ANALYSIS: Magpies have frequently been considered a bad omen in many cultures, specifically Britain as far back as the early sixteenth century. As the rhyme shows, most of the numbers have good things associated with them; the only bad magpie to see is one lone magpie. For this reason, in many parts of the United Kingdom, “people will salute a single magpie and say “Good morning Mr Magpie. How is your lady wife today?” By acknowledging the magpie in this way you are showing him proper respect in the hope that he will not pass bad fortune on to you. By referring to the magpie’s wife you are also implying that there are two magpies, which bring joy rather than sorrow according to the popular rhyme.” The fact that this superstition has lasted so long reminds us that, especially in places with such ancient culture as the UK, old superstitions die hard and many of our modern ways of behavior stem from them.

Before the devil knows you’re dead (Irish saying)

Nationality: American / Irish
Age: 56
Occupation: Artist
Residence: Malibu, CA
Performance Date: 4/27/16
Primary Language: English

PP: The Irish have so many sayings, proverbs, stories, myths, stuff like that. A lot of them are about death. It’s a very death centered culture, but they don’t look at it as necessarily a bad thing, it’s more about a celebration of the person’s life. That’s why they have parties at wakes instead of all mourning, and they sometimes give the body a cigar or whiskey. So a lot of the sayings they have are about the afterlife. It’s also because they’re mostly Catholic, or at least used to be and that sticks in the culture too.

TK: What’s an example of a saying about death?

PP: It’s something like, “May you be in heaven an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.” If you think about that one it seems to be referencing the Catholic belief that heaven and hell are both outcomes after you die and that even if you were destined to go to heaven there’s a possibility the devil could grab you anyway. So if you get to heaven safely and then he finds out then it won’t matter.

TK: Did you hear this a lot growing up in Ireland?

PP: I think actually I heard it more in America. We [Ireland] had a big tourism industry, it was called the Celtic Tiger, and people would come over and learn about our folklore, our myths and stuff like that and it became really popular in America for a while. So a lot of the “Irish blessings” along with the stereotypes about Irish people that we have here in America are kind of exaggerated, it was a way for Irish people to sell their way of life to tourists, and part of that was exaggerating their interest in death, or their interest in alcohol, or any of those stereotypes.

TK: But there is some truth to the death ones.

PP: I think so. When I was growing up we were a very religious family. It was sad when someone would die but we also celebrated the good times we had with that person and we knew we were going to see them again in heaven so it was never like a final thing.

 

THE INFORMANT: The informant is a middle-aged woman who spent most of her adolescence and college career in Ireland and has since emigrated to America. She is very fond of the old Irish traditions and proud of the rich cultural heritage of her home country. She does admit that Ireland can be an overly tight-knit place and is unwelcoming to outsiders, and the main reason she left for America was a sense of feeling restless and slightly unwelcome due to the fact that she was not born in Ireland (even though her whole family is from there, she was born in South Africa).

ANALYSIS: This is a very well-known saying whose origins are not readily apparent. As the informant noted, much of Irish culture has been appropriated or exaggerated for an American audience, who generally associate Ireland with leprechauns, fairies, beer, potatoes…cultural touchstones that do not truly represent the full extent of Ireland’s history or contemporary present. Research suggests that this blessing does indeed have very strong ties to the Catholic religion. Traditionally, it was said that (especially for those who did not get a chance to make a confession before their death) the devil would make a last-minute attempt to have a dying person renounce their belief in God and join him instead in Hell. This blessing was meant to be a way of protecting someone from the devil’s preying on them in this way. The “hour” is usually a “half-hour,” which shows the traditional Irish wit: technically, if such a thing were necessary it could happen in an instant but the “half-hour” is unnecessarily long just to make fully sure that the dead soul makes it up to heaven long before the devil is even aware they could possibly be turned to his side.